


He's a Bit of a Flirt, but Imma Give Him a Chance

by Malectho



Series: Domestic Life Was Never Quite My Style [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Coffee, Cuddling & Snuggling, Engagement, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, i can't overstate how fucking fluffy and pure this is, sex mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2016-09-18
Packaged: 2018-08-15 20:20:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8071330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Malectho/pseuds/Malectho
Summary: The three times John got Alex coffee and the one time he didn't.orAlex loves his boyfriend more than he loves caffeine.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this since July, and I'm so excited to share it with all of you! I hope you like it and if you do please leave a comment!

_“John,”_ The sudden and familiar sound of his boyfriend whispering his name startled him awake. “Are you up?” When John opened his eyes, Alex was hovering over him, both of his hands placed strategically at his sides, pinning him in the perfect position to gaze into his eyes. 

“I am now,” John said groggily, and leaned up a bit to kiss Alex’s nose. “What are you doing up?” As it came out of his mouth John knew that was a stupid question. Alex never stopped working and it was incredibly likely that he had never gone to sleep. However, seeing as it was only four in the morning, and sunlight had not even begun to shine through their bedroom curtains, he felt as if he deserved an explanation. Unlike Alex, he valued his sleep. 

“Unimportant,” Alex insisted. “We have an emergency.” At that, John cocked an eyebrow and sat up in bed, forcing Alex to reposition himself out of his lap, but still in a spot facing his love. 

“What is this emergency?” John questioned him. He wasn’t exactly worried. Alex had a tendency to be a bit theatrical. While some people found it annoying, and it often got him into trouble (especially in debate team), John thought it was quite adorable.

In response, Alex pressed his forehead John’s and stared into his eyes, two differing shades of brown irises meeting each other. “Okay, are you prepared for what I’m about to tell you? Are you sitting down?” 

“Babe, you are literally sitting on me right now.” John pointed out. “Can we please move this along so that I can go back to bed? You know I have an early class tomorrow.”

Alex’s lips quickly curled into a pout, “Wow. My boyfriend is extremely insensitive towards my feelings.”

John gave an exasperated sigh, “Well then I’m going back to sleep.” He started to lay back down, but Alex reached out, grabbed a handful of his white t-shirt, and pulled him back up so they were face to face again. 

“No,”Alex pleaded. His hands had moved from John’s shirt to his hair, where he was lightly tucking stray black curls that had fallen from his ponytail behind his ear. “This is important to me. The coffee maker isn’t working.” 

“Well I’m not surprised,” John admitted with a shrug. “That thing is ancient.” When the two of them had moved in together two months ago, the only thing that Alex had brought with him, other than clothes and a few miscellaneous items, was that old beat up coffee maker. The first time he’d seen it, he’d made the mistake of telling Alex he thought it looked like a pile of garbage. This resulted in Alex going on a long winded rant concerning how much the coffee maker meant to him, and leaving John feeling extremely guilty by the end of it. In summary, the coffee maker had been the first thing Alex had bought when he moved to New York. He’d bought it cheap at some flea market for twenty bucks. The way that Alex had put it was that he couldn’t afford to sleep, but he could afford caffeine. He may not have had much, but he had that shitty coffee maker. 

The thing had made dreadful coffee. It wasn’t very strong. As a matter of fact it was so useless, that you would usually need to make three cups in order for it have any affect at all. John had offered to buy them a new one, a nice Keurig brewer whose coffee didn’t test his gag reflex. His father was paying to furnish their apartment anyways. Something about making it so John never had a reason to come home again. Alex had been steadfast in declining though. It had sentimental value.

Alex let out a long sigh, and then flopped down onto the bed beside John. “I’m going to get tired any minute now. What am I supposed to do?”

“Well normal people would try sleep,” John suggested. Alex just stared back at him blankly, and then nuzzled up close to him, burying his face in his chest.

“Now you’re just spouting nonsense,” Alex mumbled into his shirt. John began running his fingers through Alex’s hair, being careful to avoid tangles so he didn’t hurt him by accidentally pulling on them. He kept his other arm wrapped around his shoulders, pulling him close. 

John thought for a moment. “Did you try waiting a few minutes?” The two of them had routine of what to do when it malfunctioned. Alex nodded against him. “Did you try unplugging it and then plugging it back in?” Another nod. “How about hitting it? That worked that one time.”

Alex slowly looked back up at John. John’s vision had finally adjusted to the dark, and for the first time he had noticed the bags under Alex’s eyes. “So this is how I die, huh? From caffeine deprivation.”

“Drama queen,” John teased as he kissed the top of Alex’s head, and then let his chin rest there. 

“I have a paper due,” Alex said moving his head away from John’s chest. John relished this closeness. He enjoyed how he could feel Alex’s chest rise and fall, and even how he felt the faint touch of his eyelashes as they fluttered amidst his struggle to stay awake.

“Oh yeah? When?” John challenged him. Knowing that when Alex said something was due, it usually meant that he had forever and a half before it was due. 

“In a week,” Alex replied, confirming what John already knew.

“My Alexander, I can’t believe you,” He only used his full name when his lover was being particularly difficult. “You have a week to finish this. Go to sleep.” Deadlines had been insignificant to Alex ever since he met. It didn’t matter how far away a due date was, he had to finish as early as possible.

“You know I don’t like having things to do,” Alex protested, and then he looked up at John, a smile creeping onto his face. “Except for you.”

“And with that, I’m leaving,” John said, sitting up, tilting up Alex’s chin, and giving him a quick kiss on the lips. Alex leaned in for more, but instead found himself falling face forward onto the bed, because John had already gotten up.. 

“Wait you’re actually leaving?” Alex complained. He reached over and pulled the comforter onto him, making up for the warmth he was now lacking since John was gone. 

John grabbed a pair of jeans off of their bedroom floor, and pulled them on over the red boxers with little turtles on them that Alex had gotten him for Christmas. “I’m going to go get you some coffee.” Since it was dark in the room, he wasn’t exactly sure whose pants he was putting on, but both of they were close to the same size and often shared clothes, so it didn’t really matter to him. “There is a 24 hour diner three blocks away, and if I let you go get it yourself you’ll get hit by a car. I prefer my boyfriends less pancake-esque.” 

“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” Alex looked up at John, batting his eyelashes.

“Well you better love me a whole fucking lot because why else would I be getting you coffee at 4:20 in the morning?” John joked. In two long strides he walked back over to the bed and kissed Alex again. It was a longer one, as they were both too tired to pull away. Not that either one of them wanted too. 

“Well now I don’t know if I want you to go.” Alex said against his lips as they curled into a smile. 

“I’ll be back soon,” John promised, giving him one last kiss on the cheek. Alex groaned in disapproval. John just laughed and began to walk out of the bedroom, pretending not to notice that Alex was very clearly giving him the finger while reaching for his Macbook.

Before he left, he slipped into his Vans, and grabbed a coat. This time he knew it was Alex’s but it was warmer than his, and as a bonus it smelled like Alex. Distinctly like coffee and pine. He never understood why Alex smelled like pine. They lived in New York, there was no legitimate reason for him to smell like a tree you’d find in a forest. But he did and that’s just because he was Alex;constantly defying the laws of nature. Like staying up for four days straight, living off coffee and whatever John or his friends force fed him.

It could just be cologne. It was probably just cologne.

His keys and wallet were probably buried somewhere. in between the couch cushions. The two of them weren’t the most organized people, and living together made things a catastrophe. Two negatives definitely did not make a positive. That’s just a bunch of bullshit. A pair of messy people aren’t just going to suddenly make a clean person.

After triple checking that he had everything, he finally left the apartment. He was careful to be quiet as he walked past his neighbors’ doors Most of them already had complained about them being too noisy in the middle of the night, with all of Alex’s pacing and loud music. Along with other things that involved both of them... 

The moment he was outside, he wished he had brought gloves. The winter chill was stronger than usual, and he shoved his hands into Alex’s,, coat pockets. Inside there were crinkled up receipts, loose coins, and what felt like a single picture in his right pocket. Alex didn’t own a wallet. He didn’t bother spending his money on things that were so pointless. All he needed were the bare necessities. John made a mental note to buy him one for his birthday.

It only took a few minutes for him to get the diner. He and Alex had walked past it countless times, had watched people coming out looking satisfied and happy, but they had never actually gone inside. The two of them mostly ate at home or ordered in. 

When he walked in, a bell jingled above him, and he was instantly overwhelmed by silence. The inside of any building was quieter than New York at night. After all it was the city that never sleeps. There were only three other people there, two girls surrounded by piles of textbooks who looked half asleep, and an old man sitting alone in the back of the restaurant eating a cheeseburger bigger than his head. 

Above the cash register, there was a sign that said _place take out orders here._ Underneath it there was a lady who looked like she was in her 40s reading what appeared to be a scandalous romance novel. She peered over it when she saw John come in, and gave him a faint smile before putting her book down, dog earring one of the corners as she did so. John cringed a bit at the sight of it. Alex did that all the time and it always bothered him. He hated seeing the marks it left on the pages.

“What can I get for you?” The woman asked as he approached the counter.

“Can I get two coffees to go, please?” John asked, and the lady quickly scribbled it down on the notepad. Both of the coffees were for Alex, as he knew that he wasn’t going to be satisfied with just one. 

“Is that all?” 

He thought for a moment, “Actually ma’am, do you have grilled cheese?”

“Yes we do, should I put you down for one?” She asked getting her pencil ready. Grilled cheese had been Alex’s favorite food for as long as he’d known him. On their first date it was what he’d ordered, not caring about the look that the waiter was giving him because he was a full grown man ordering a grilled cheese.

“Yes please, thank you ma’am,” John answered.

“Well aren’t we a polite one.” The lady chuckled, as she handed the piece of paper to the cook through a window.

“Well you know what they say about southern charm ma’am,” John replied, referencing his South Carolinian roots. Growing up in the south with his father, had taught him two things; number one always be polite, and number two being gay was wrong. He only lived by one of those rules.

“That will be eight dollars honey,” She laughed. John reached into his back pants pocket, pulling out his wallet and handing her the cash. “Thanks, your food should be out in a few minutes.” Her eyes darted to the tip jar, the gesture subtle but still evident. He started fishing around in his pockets looking for the change he had felt earlier. If he’d paid for coffee, Alex could cover the tip. 

Instead he ended up taking out the photo. It was a photo of the two of them kissing on the Fourth of July, purple fireworks in the distance. He remembered that night, the entire gang had gone up on Herc’s roof to watch the fireworks. Angelica had just gotten an old camera at a secondhand store, the kind that developed the photos instantly. She’d brought the thing to the party, and was using it to take photos of the unexpecting victims she called friends. Alex had been upset that _“that damn francophile Jefferson”_ had been invited to the party. John had assured him that he was overreacting and before he could say anything else he’d kissed him. That’s when Angelica had come over and snapped the photo. Since he hated how he looked on camera, John had insisted it be thrown away. However Alex had ripped it out of Angelica’s hand and said he would keep it for himself. Honestly, it made John happy that Alex was carrying it around with him.

The lady at the counter made a horrible fake coughing noise, and looked at the tip jar again. Taking the hint, John put the photo back in the right coat pocket, and took out the change from the other one and placed it into the tip jar. The woman gave him a toothy smile, just as the cook came out and handed the food to her. 

“Thank you for coming,” She handed him his food which was in a bag reading _Sally’s_ on the front, and a cup holder containing the two cups of coffee Then she lifted up her book and continued to read.

Food in hand, he walked out of the diner, passing the two girls who had long since fallen asleep. He made his way back to the apartment. Once he got there, he struggled to get the door open since he was full handed, but eventually had the brilliant idea to set the food down for a second. When he got inside, he put the stuff on the kitchen counter and shrugged off Alex’s coat. 

Usually, Alex would come running at the scent of coffee, but this time nothing. Curious, he walked over to the bedroom. 

“If you think I’m going to be your fucking maid and bring you your coffee-” He started to say, but stopped at the sight of Alex. He had passed out, his laptop still open in front of him. 

Seeing Alex sound asleep in bed made him remember how tired he was, and the bed looked ten times more comfortable with Alex in it. So he stripped down to his t-shirt and turtle boxers and climbed back into bed with him. Next, he slowly took the laptop away from Alex, and checked to make sure his work was saved before closing it, because he didn’t want to die. He placed the laptop on the nightstand on his own side of the bed, so Alex would have to go past him if he wanted his laptop. To take extra precautions he wrapped his arms tightly around his waist, pulled him close, and softly kissed his temple. 

He heard Alex sigh and try to squirm his way closer to him which was not physically possible. “Did you get my coffee?” Alex asked groggily.

“You can have it after you get a few hours of sleep,” John whispered into the crook of his neck. Alex muttered in protest but fell silent as John peppered kisses against his bare neck. 

“But then it will be cold.”

“There is this magical thing called a microwave,” John told him. His voice was laced with sleep, and his teeth lightly grazing his earlobe, making Alex squirm. 

“Hey, I like you a lot,” Alex told him, and that was the last thing John heard before he drifted off. Surrounded by the smell of the coffee and pine. And the warmth of his love, in their bed where he should be.

♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥

 

“Angelica, how are you so fucking good at Mario Kart?” Alex asked. Next to him, Angelica had her legs sprawled over the arm of the couch, she was biting her lower lip, as she frantically smashed buttons on her Wii controller. 

“You have to have literally no motivation to do anything else other than become the very best Mario Kart player there has ever been,” Angelica told him, not taking her eyes off of the game. 

Alex looked back at the TV, just in time to see Angelica successfully cross the finish line before him. Angelica jumped off the couch, flipping over a bowl of pretzels as she did so. Then, she she threw her arm up above her head and snapped dramatically, as if she’d rehearsed it.

“That’s ten for ten,” She chanted victoriously, and then got up in Alex’s face. “What do you say? Want to make it eleven?”

Just then, John emerged from their bedroom, adjusting a tie around his neck. “Sorry Ang, it’s date night.” After hearing this, Alex groaned into a pillow.

“Babe I think I’m sick,” Alex whined. 

“With what?” John questioned.

“I’m sick of Thomas Jefferson’s stupid face,” Alex turned over to face John. “--and the only cure is to never see him ever again.” From the other side of the couch, Angelica kicked Alex in the leg. Alex sat up and moved farther away from her. 

“Alex stop being an asshole,” Angelica ordered, before turning her attention to John. “What does Jefferson have to do with date night? I mean poly relationships are cool and all, but Jefferson and Madison are pretty serious-”

Alex threw a pillow at Angelica, knocking her snapback off of her head. “How dare you. I have standards,” He hissed. Angelica picked her hat up, and put it on backwards, so that he couldn’t see the wonder woman logo anymore. Now there was malice in her eyes, and she was scanning the area for something to throw back at him.

Before Angelica could chuck the video game case at Alex, John positioned himself between both of them on the sofa. Cautiously, Alex slowly moved closer to John, and proceeded to lay his head on his lap, all the while keeping an eye on Angelica, whose right hand was still hovering over the case. 

“Alex and I have a double date with Jefferson and Madison,” John explained, while running his hands through Alex’s hair. The action made Alex let out an involuntary sigh. His boyfriend was so gentle with him, and it was quite shocking considering that John was willing to fight anything that moved.

“John wants couple friends,” Alex added. 

“And Alex has been trying to find an excuse to get out of it for the past week,” John said. 

“You know what sucks about being an orphan? You can’t use the family emergency excuse.” Alex sighed and John used his knee to nudge himself up.

“Poor you. You have to spend time with your amazing boyfriend, at a super fancy restaurant that Thomas is paying for,” John replied sarcastically. Begrudgingly, Alex stood up, and turned back around so he was looking at John.

“Fucking Jefferson. This is just a way for him to rub all of his money in my face,” Alex pouted. 

“Sorry baby,” John shrugged. Then he stood up and gave Alex a brief kiss that wiped the frown off his face. “Now go get ready, the cab is going to be here soon.”

“Why can’t we just walk?” Alex asked. He hated taking cabs. They were filthy, and the driver never wanted to hear any of his hilarious anecdotes. Plus he was dirt poor, so John always paid, and it made him feel bad. 

“Because it’s like 20 degrees out there,” John said. “You would know if you and Angelica had actually gone out in the past two days-”

“That reminds me, can I just chill here after you guys leave?” Angelica asked. She had resumed Mario Kart, now on single player, her long legs covering the entire couch. Her tongue hung out

 

“Eliza has banned video games from the apartment until I get a new job,” Angelica explained.

“Well maybe you shouldn’t have punched your boss in the face?” Alex suggested, grabbing John’s arm and hanging on it for no other reason than the desire to touch him. 

“Well maybe he shouldn’t have grabbed that intern’s ass,” Angelica raged. She’d broke her boss’ jaw with one sucker punch after catching him harassing another intern. Suffice to say, Angelica wasn’t allowed to step foot in the publishing company again. Angelica insisted she wouldn’t have it any other way, because she didn’t want to work anywhere that let a bastard like that get away with what he did. Her friends, each of them feminists, gave her a high five.

“Angelica you can stay,” John decided as he wriggled his arm free from Alex. “And babe, you have to get ready because the cab is literally going to be here any minute.” 

“Darn I thought you’d forget,” Alex sighed whilst staring at the ground. 

“Alexander-” John scolded, his voice was harsh but there was a hint of amusement, just like there always was when John talked to Alex

“Fine,” Alex said, drawing out the word and then walking to their bedroom. _Their bedroom._ He was never going to get used to that. When he came to America, he wasn’t expecting to form attachments with anybody. Instead he found a whole family...he found John. Honestly he didn’t think he’d ever need anything or anybody else.

John had already laid a suit out on the bed, probably suspecting that he would procrastinate getting ready for as long as possible. He quickly changed into the suit, it was a simple black jacket and black pants, with a white dress shirt. He slipped the shoes that sat at the front of the bed on as well.

He reemerged from the bedroom, clutching a tie in his right hand. Alex was incredibly smart, but he couldn’t for the life of him learn to tie a tie. Growing up in Nevis, he never really went anywhere fancy enough to require a tie. He would never understand why his mother had moved them from Puerto Rico to Nevis in the first place, they lived in squalor there. Even for his mother’s funeral, all he’d worn was a black dress shirt and pants. 

Blushing, he walked over to John, who by now knew the drill. Alex held the tie out in front of him and John quickly took it, giving him a reassuring smile that told him he had no reason to be embarrassed. As John tied it, Alex watched his delicate fingers move through the holes with the fabric of the tie. He tried in vain to commit every movement to memory, even though he knew he never would. 

When John finished, he grinned brightly at Alex, and when Alex looked away sheepishly, John gave him a peck on the cheek. Alex hated not being able to do something. He didn’t like feeling useless. Somehow, John always found a way to make him feel important. Even if he couldn’t tie a fucking tie. 

“Guys, your cab is here,” Angelica called to them from their tiny living room window. 

“You know it’s not too late to back out,” Alex pleaded. “We can get Chinese food from the place across the street.”

“Alex that place is getting shut down,” John reminded him.

“They find one little rat and suddenly everyone’s up in arms. This is New York, people need to get over themselves,” Alex protested. 

“First of all, it was an infestation of rats,” John said, and his nose crinkled in disgust. “Second of all, we are going to this dinner.” At that, John began to lightly nudge his boyfriend towards the front door, which turned into a more forceful shove as Alex attempted resist.

“Bye Angelica,” John called as he opened the door and pushed Alex through it. “Lock the door behind us!”

“I’m going to eat all of your food!” Angelica shouted back, just as John was closing the door behind them. 

“I hope you’re happy. You’ve left our fridge defenseless,” Alex muttered. John just laughed and took his hand. The two then began walking down four flights of stairs. There was an elevator in the building, but neither of them really minded the trek. Unless they were carrying groceries or it was really late, then they gave into the lazy American stereotype. 

The cab driver was obviously a little agitated that they had made him wait, but Alex was sure that John would give him extra money to pay for it. John rarely asked for change, he just told people to keep it. He was so generous with everyone. Plus he fought for people. He was always willing to defend those without a voice, and it was the cause of most of the fights he got into.

John reminded the cab driver where they were going, and he just grunted in response. Then John laid his head on Alex’s chest. Alex wondered if he could hear his heartbeat speed up, or if he could feel it. John still got his heart racing after nearly two years. Maybe that’s how you know it’s real.

“We forgot our coats,” John mumbled into Alex’s shirt.

“I’ll keep you warm _angelito,”_ He promised, rubbing his knuckles up and down John’s spine. A lot of times Alex would slip into Spanish while he and John were trying to be cute together. He knew that John enjoyed it, since he didn’t know nearly as much Spanish as he’d like to. It also helped that he found it incredibly hot.

“Te amo mi cielo,” John replied, shocking Alex. He’d always suspected that he knew a bit of Spanish since his parents were of Puerto Rican descent. However John had said that his father had insisted that neither of them speak Spanish in the house, and John had taken German in high school. John had always been fond of his mother, there was no question that he loved her, and from what John told Alex she loved him unconditionally. Alex could just picture her teaching a young John a bit of Spanish before of bedtime instead of reading a story. He could also imagine John’s toothy grin when he learned the world turtle. Part of Alex wanted to ask John about it, but he knew that if John ever wanted to tell him about it he would. 

The taxi came to an abrupt stop, and Alex looked out of the frost covered window. He could vaguely make out the shape of a building, well actually many buildings since it was New York and everything was packed together like sardines, and also bright lights. He assumed they had reached the restaurant, and John seemed to have drawn the same conclusion, as he was leaning forward to pay the driver. 

“Keep the change,” John told him, just as Alex had predicted. The driver smiled for the first time since they stepped into the cab, even bidding them goodbye as they stepped out into the cold bitten air. 

“Why do you do that?” Alex interrogated him as they stepped onto the sidewalk, keeping an eye out for ice. 

“Do what?” John asked.

“Give people more than they need?” Alex clarified, running his hands through his hair. He was just now realizing that he had not given himself time to do anything with his hair. After an entire of day laying around on the couch with Angelica, he imagined it was sticking out all over the place. 

“Because of you,” John told him, and Alex froze, and it wasn’t because of the cold. “You always told me how you never got paid enough for the jobs you did. So I just want to make sure everyone has what they need.”

Suddenly Alex felt heat creeping up the back of his neck, overwhelmed by flattery. Unable to meet John’s eyes for the moment, Alex turned his attention to the restaurant sign. In huge cursive letters it read: _Petit Amour._

“A fucking French restaurant,” Alex practically shouted. “Leave it to Jefferson to pick a fucking French restaurant. Also, what kind of name is _Petit Amour?_ It’s like they took the only two French words people know and slapped them together.”

“How about instead of standing here complaining, we get our assess inside before we freeze to death,” John suggested, and Alex realized that his boyfriend was shivering so hard that his teeth were clattering against each other.

“Lo siento mi amor, vamos vamos,” Alex spoke frantically in Spanish and ushered John inside as quickly as he could. Sometimes he got so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he forgot about everyone around him. Even John. It was a curse, and defense mechanism that he had used to retreat when things were bad at home. Now he couldn’t get rid of it. 

John didn’t seem to mind that much, he was smiling again once they entered the restaurant. As soon as he stepped foot inside, Alex knew that he didn’t belong. He counted five chandeliers. That was five chandeliers to many. 

Thomas and James were standing in a corner, their heads pressed together whilst speaking in hushed tones. Was this one of those places where you were socially obligated to talk quietly, because Alex had never been able to do that. After a few seconds, James and Thomas noticed that they were there, and the two made their way over to John and Alex. James had an arm wrapped loosely around Thomas’ waist, while Thomas had his own arm slung over James’ shoulder. 

“Hello James,” Alex greeted his friend, whom he knew from various classes. 

“Hey Hamilton,” James said. Alex was silent for a moment, and he could tell everyone was waiting expectantly, and when he didn’t say anything, John elbowed him lightly in his side.

“Ouch what the f-I mean hi Thomas,” Alex muttered and forced himself to look his nemesis in the eye. The first time he had heard Thomas Jefferson open that stupid mouth of his, Alex had declared the two to be each other's arch rival. He literally walked up to Thomas after class and said _“we are enemies now and I hate you”_ and walked away. From that moment on, he had been certain that his feelings about Thomas Jefferson would never change

So much had changed since then though. Back then he had still been dating Eliza. He knew that he loved Eliza, and he was certain of that. Both of them had just wanted different things, and neither of them were willing to bend for the other, and for that reason they both decided that they were not right for each other. Eliza needed to be with someone who could constantly be there for her, and Alex needed someone willing to work with his schedule and accept the fact that sometimes he just checked out mentally. As for John, John had just been his friend that worked on the college newspaper with him. The guy with a small plush turtle at his desk. John was the only person that worked as late as him, and those 2am conversations they had could only be described as legendary. Maybe if so much could change so quickly, if he could have a boy in his arms instead of a girl, he could learn to tolerate Thomas.

“Hamilton, it’s good to see you,” Thomas said, pretending he didn’t notice Alex’s hesitance. 

“Likewise,” Alex lied, and even offered his hand for Thomas to shake, which he took. “Interesting choice of restaurant. I’ve never been here before.”

Thomas shrugged, “I figured, it’s pretty expensive. James and I come here all the time.” 

Alex felt John squeeze his hand tightly, a gesture of support and reassurance. Also a method to make sure that Alex didn’t punch Thomas in his face. For him, Alex was going to put in the effort to be friends with Thomas. There was also the fact that Jefferson was slowly but surely infiltrating their friend group, mostly because they all loved James, and he and Thomas were inseparable. 

A waiter came over to them, carrying four menus. He smiled at Thomas and James, as if they already knew each other well, and led them to a table towards the back of the restaurant. 

“I know a lot of people hate sitting in the back,” Thomas said. “But I just think it’s a lot quieter and more private.” 

John pulled out a chair for Alex, and kissed his cheek as he sat down. It was obvious he’d done this before. Gone to a fancy restaurant. Alex wondered if he would bring girls there on dates, in an attempt to impress his father. Did he pull out their chair too, like the gentleman he was? Maybe he even kissed their cheeks too? Or did he stay locked up in his room, eyes glued to the news as he watched protests that he, at the time, only dreamed of participating in. 

“Why are you staring at me?” John asked, as he sat down. 

“You are just so stunning John Laurens,” Alex said in awe, and John’s face turned so red that his freckles disappeared. He reached under the table and squeezed Alex’s knee affectionately.

“You’re not too bad yourself Hamilton,” John winked at him, and Alex actually swooned.

“Keep it in your pants, Laurens,” Alex managed to whisper, and then added, “At least until we get home.” They looked over at the couple across the table from them to see if the noticed their shameless flirting, but they seemed to enthralled in each other to even notice them.

A single curl had freed itself from the bonds of John’s ponytail, and Alex wanted nothing more than to push it out of his face and kiss the spot where it had once been. This was a public restaurant though, and Alex knew that one kiss would lead to more, because he had no self control. It didn’t really help that John was exceeding his usual levels of hotness in that suit. The suit itself seemed to fit his slender frame perfectly, and Alex couldn't help but let his eyes wander. 

Soon, the waiter had returned, carrying a bottle of white wine. “I assumed you’d like your usual, Mr. Jefferson,” The waiter told him, and began pouring some wine into each of their glasses, not waiting for approval.

When he got to John he stopped, and his eyebrows furrowed as if he was contemplating something. Alex and John exchanged a confused glance, it was as if the waiter had suddenly forgotten how to pour wine into a glass. 

“I’m sorry sir, but may I see your ID?” The waiter seemed unsure of himself as he made the request. 

“Excuse me?” John sounded offended, but the look in his eyes was more bewildered than anything. 

“I’m sorry I just need to make sure,” The waiter tried to assure him. With a scowl on his face, John took his wallet of out his inside jacket pocket, and showed the waiter his ID, which showed that he was twenty two.

“I’m sorry, sir,” The man said, giving him an uncomfortable smile. He poured John’s wine hastily, stumbling over another “I’m very sorry” before leaving them all to look at the menu. 

“I don’t look like I’m under twenty one, right?” John asked all of his friends, desperately wanting all of his friends to tell him how out of line the waiter was. Alex averted his gaze, not wanting to tell John that when Eliza had first met him, she was positive that John had been a year younger than Alex, instead of a few months older than him. 

Alex took a sip of his wine, which turned into long gulps, until the entire glass was gone in less than minute. He’d never admit it to Jefferson but the man had picked some damn good wine. 

“Oh come on Laurens, there is no use _whining_ about it,” James snickered obviously quite proud of himself. Alex and John both faked a laugh for James’ sake, but Thomas seemed to genuinely find it hilarious, as he was nearly doubled over laughing. 

“This would have never happened in France,” Thomas told all of them. “The drinking age is 16.”

Suddenly Alex was very aware that he was out of wine, and if he was going to get through this dinner, he was going to need a lot of alcohol. 

“Sweetie, I think they forgot to give me some wine so I’m just going to-” He left his sentence incomplete as he reached for John’s wine glass, and took two long sips, and _accidentally_ forgot to give the glass back to John. 

“France, huh? Alex maybe we should take a trip there sometimes,” John told him trying to make a conversation. Alex took another long drink. He would die before he went to France. 

“You hate traveling,” Alex reminded him, and John just shrugged. It was obvious that John was trying to make conversation, and if there was one thing that could keep Thomas talking for hours was France. The guy spent one year there, and acted like he had a duel citizenship.

“Oh you definitely should,” Jefferson insisted. “It’s beautiful any time of year. James and I are going after graduation. Maybe you could tag along all expenses paid of course.”

In his head, Alex painted a mental picture of spending summer in France with Jefferson and Madison. The whole thing made him want to barf. 

“We are going to be busy all summer,” Alex responded before John could accept the offer out of sheer social awkwardness.

“We are?” John asked absent mindedly. “Doing what?”

“We’re going to go visit Nevis,” Alex said through gritted teeth.

“I don’t remember discussing that?” John pondered.

“It was supposed to be a surprise, but now you’ve ruined it,” Alex rubbed his face with his hands. Looks like they were going on vacation in Nevis. John gave him a quizzical look, but then shrugged, obviously not wanting to discuss the topic anymore. 

For the next few minutes they all sat in silence as the looked over the menu. Alex had thought he was fluent in French, but as he looked the menu over, he realized he didn’t know what a lot of it meant. There were no pictures on the menu to help him, because apparently a fucking image of what he was going to be eating was to much to ask for. 

The waiter came back sooner than he thought he would. Or maybe he had just lost track of time. Thomas and Jefferson ordered first, or more like Thomas ordered the same thing for both of them. James didn’t seem to mind though, his smile was a mile long, and he was looking at Thomas like he was holding the world on his shoulders. Did he look at John like that? Probably. 

John ordered his food flawlessly, which made Alex think he’d had it before, because John definitely did not know French. Sure, he knew a few words here and there because of Lafayette, but he was definitely not fluent in it.

The waiter turned to Alex, who pretended to clear his throat to buy himself time. He definitely did not want to embarrass himself in front of John, and he definitely didn’t want Thomas to think he was better at something than he was. 

“I’ll have the um, blanquette de veau,” Alex ordered, handing the menu to the waiter. It was one of the only thing that Alex recognized on the menu. He knew that “blanquette” meant stew, and he assumed “veau” was veal. Across the table, Thomas was snickering, and whispering something in James’ ear.

“What?” Alex asked, and Thomas looked up at him, wearing his sly know it all grin. 

“Well, it’s just that, blanquette de veau usually goes better with red wine, not white,” Thomas said. Alex literally had to bite his tongue to keep himself from screaming at Thomas. He wasn’t the one who ordered the freaking wine. 

Alex grabbed the waiter’s arm, and pointed to his two empty wine glasses. “You seem to have forgotten to fill my glass and my boyfriend already drank his,” John shot him a look, and Alex gave him an apologetic smile. “Can you refill these...actually can you just leave the bottle.”

“We don’t really do that here-” The waiter began to say, but Alex was persistent, and he was sure the look on his face showed it. “But I’m sure we can make an exception. Alex just nodded, and the waiter left. 

Suddenly John had grabbed his hand under the table, and was rubbing slow, soothing circles on the back of it. Most people wouldn’t know how to deal with Alex when he got short tempered and impatient. John did. Somehow, he loved his hot headed boyfriend despite his many flaws, and Alex would never understand it. 

The waiter returned, carrying the bottle of wine and then left it at the table beside Alex. Alex didn’t even wait to say thank you before he was filling his glass to the top with white wine, so John said thank you for him. He also chose to ignore the dirty looks Thomas was giving him. As soon as Alex had set the bottle down, John snatched it away from him and refilled his own glass. 

For the next half hour John made small talk with James and Thomas, while Alex stared blankly at a paint chip on the wall while sipping wine. At the moment, he was mentally writing his essay for Seabury’s class. The guy was a total conservative, and Alex was very liberal, so Alex always had to watch what he said in his papers. At the end of the year he planned to write his professor a long letter about what a dick he was and how he hated every minute of his god forsaken class.

“Hamilton, you with us buddy?” James asked, snapping him back to reality.

“What, yeah I guess I’m overwhelmed with school right now,” Alex apologized, and John leaned over to kiss his cheek. John was always worrying about Alex’s school schedule, and was worried that one day he was going to break. Honestly though, he was fine. Most of the time he enjoyed the work. Sure, sometimes he lost himself in it, but he had John and his friends to keep him grounded.

“Tell me about it,” Thomas groaned. “Seabury is killing me.”

“Right!” Alex exclaimed, surprised that he actually agreed with Thomas on something. “The man is a moron with almost no common sense.”

“What’s wrong with Seabury?” John asked.

“Trump supporter,” Thomas and Alex said at the same time. Thomas looked at him, and did something Alex never thought he’d see. He smiled at him. An actual genuine smile that wasn’t riddled with self gratification. Then Alex did something he didn’t ever think he’d do. He smiled back. 

For the next hour, the conversation was easy. Alex and Thomas talked about the presidential race, while James and John discussed the Black Lives Matter movement. The discussion didn’t even lull when the food got there. By the time the dinner was over, Alex was almost sad that they had to leave. He had actually enjoyed himself. Thomas offered to give them a ride home in his mercedes, but John told him they’d just take a cab.

They waved goodbye to James and Thomas as they went to where they parked their car. As they walked away, James pretended to try and trip Thomas, to which Thomas responded by shoving him playfully, but they ended up walking away with hooked pinkies, which had become their trademark. 

“C’mon, let’s go,” John said linking their arms. 

“I thought we were going home,” Alex said, laying his head in the crook of John’s neck where it seemed to fit perfectly. 

“I’m buying you coffee first,” John told him, and the two began to walk to the McDonalds across the street. 

“Look I know I’m a little tipsy, but the whole coffee thing is for hangovers,” Alex said, and then added, “Plus it’s a total myth.” 

“I’m buying you coffee because you like coffee dumbass,” John said. Alex beamed at him, and as they stepped back onto the sidewalk, he kissed Alex’s jaw line. 

They walked into the Mcdonalds, and Alex watched John’s brow furrow in frustration when he saw the large amount of big macs being eaten, and people shoving handfuls of fries into their mouths. 

“It’s a Mcdonalds, what did you expect?” Alex asked.

“Well they have salads,” John complained. 

“You are the only person, who’d go to Mcdonalds, and get a salad,” Alex laughed. “Because you are a health nut.”

“Let’s just get your coffee, mi cielo,” John threw his hands up, and Alex smiled. 

“That’s the second time you’ve called me that today,” Alex said to him. “Am I your heaven, or your sky.”

John blushed, “Both.” 

Alex shook his head, walked over to the counter, and ordered a large coffee. Behind him, John handed the girl at the register a few dollars. She handed them a receipt and the cup of coffee, and the two of them went to go sit in a booth at the back of the restaurant, where John wouldn’t be forced to watch people consume what could only be described as future heart attacks. 

“So as much as I love coffee,” Alex said, while curling up against John in the booth, “I still don’t know why you bought me coffee.”

John untied his ponytail, and then wrapped both of his arms around Alex’s body, pulling him closer. “You were civil with Jefferson. I know how hard that must have been for you.” 

“It wasn’t that bad,” Alex admitted. He took a sip of his coffee, clutching it with both hands, and shutting his eyes as he laid against his boyfriend. He could probably fall asleep right here. He didn’t care about where he was, he was tired and he had John and that was all he needed.

“So you’d be willing to go on a second date,” John asked, kissing the top of his head.

“As long as you’re there,” Alex reached for John’s hand, “I will do anything.”

♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥

 

“I miss Alex,” John said sullenly. He was laying on the wood floor, staring blankly at the ceiling. Maria was sitting on the sofa, knees pulled to her chest, as she took long sips of her iced caramel macchiato, and snooped through the photos on Alex’s laptop. He wasn’t sure how Maria knew Alex’s password. John didn’t even know it himself. Maria wore her pretty face proudly. It served not only to entice, but also to mask her brilliant mind. If anyone would have been able to determine the complex sequence of letters and numbers, it would have been Maria. 

“You were invited to go with them,” Maria reminded him, and John could tell by the sound of her voice that she was a bit frustrated with him. The Schuylers had invited Alex to their family’s lake house in Michigan for spring break, and since he and Alex were a package deal, the offer was extended to him. Despite how much he loved his boyfriend, John was not fond of traveling, so instead he had insisted that Alex go without him. If he didn’t, John was certain that Alex would spend the entire break obsessing over finals. Before leaving, Peggy had searched Alex’s suitcase, and ended up confiscating three textbooks, that Alex swore up and down he didn’t know were in there. Peggy told him that liars lost their laptop privileges, and ended up fighting him until she managed to pry it away. 

Maria had wanted to go with her girlfriend, and Eliza had wanted her there. Then her father had surprised them, saying he had cleared his schedule to spend time with them. While Philip Schuyler wasn’t the least bit homophobic, he was used to the idea of his daughter being straight. Just because somebody supported gay rights, didn’t rule out the possibility of biphobia. There was a widespread belief that bisexual people were either looking for attention, or were just confused. Since Eliza didn’t know where her dad stood on the subject, she decided she wanted to ease him into it, and she thought it would be easier to do that if Maria wasn’t there. 

“It hurts,” John said melodramatically as he clutched his chest. “You don’t understand.” 

“Yes,” Maria said sarcastically, not looking up from the laptop, “Because I’m just overjoyed by the idea of Eliza and her ex-boyfriend spending time together at a lake house, without you or me there. It’s a fucking dream come true.”

“I’ve never understood that phrase,” John said. “I dream about hippos dancing in tutus. I definitely don’t want that to come true.”

Maria scowled at him, and then chucked a pillow at his face. “You’re missing the point moron.”

“Come on, you know they aren’t going to cheat on us,” John said, taking a more serious tone. “You’re just worried about finding out what happened with Eliza’s dad.” Maria just shrugged and averted her gaze. She wasn’t one to talk about her feelings, and she definitely didn’t like people telling her how she felt.

“You and Alex are an extremely boring couple,” She said, changing the subject. “Not a single scandalous photo for me to hold over your heads for the rest of your life.”

“Remind me why you’re here again?” John asked.

“You offered to get me Starbucks,” Maria told him, as she leaned over to shake the drink in his face.

“No, I said I was going to go get _Alex_ Starbucks for when he got back,” John amended . “Then you just showed up.”

“Well gosh John, it would have been rude of you to not offer your guest Starbucks,” Maria shook her head disapprovingly. “Besides, I want to see Alex’s reaction when he finds out what you did.”

John felt his heart sink, “Do you really think he’s going to be mad?”

“Do I think Alex is going to be mad? Wow let me think about that, that’s a tough one,” She put a finger on her chin, and pretended to be seriously pondering the question at hand. “Is the guy who flipped out when you bought new curtains without consulting him, going to be mad when he finds out you got a dog? Well my dear Laurens, I think the answer to that is a big ol’ of course he fucking will.” 

“But I bought him Starbucks,” John advocated , implying that it somehow made up for it. 

“You also bought something that’s going to pee all over the floor, need to be walked multiple times a day, and let’s not forget it needs to be taken to the vet.”

Admittedly, buying a dog without telling Alex wasn’t the best idea. Being alone for four days had been tougher than he anticipated, and while buying a dog to keep him company had seemed great at the time, he didn’t think of what Alex would say when he got back. Well he did, he’d just chosen to ignore it.

On the coffee table, Maria’s phone buzzed, and she traded her beverage for her cell. The smile that lit up her face as she read her message gave away who was texting her. Eliza was the only person with the ability to make her that happy. Suddenly, she had jumped off the couch, her drink almost becoming a victim in the crossfire. John shifted so he was laying on his side, and watched as Maria skipped, something he had never seen her do before, over to the window. She waved ecstatically at whoever was below, and was practically bouncing on her heels in an attempt to remain calm. 

“They’re back,” Maria spun around on her heels gleefully. 

“What?” John shot up, and looked at his watch. “They aren’t supposed to get back for another half an hour.” 

“Well at least now his coffee won’t be cold,” Maria shrugged, unlike John, she had no reason to be anything but happy that they were back early. “Plus you’ve got time to explain the whole dog situation to Alex, before Laf and Hercules bring him back from the park.”

“I’m screwed,” John declared. In a last ditch effort to cover up his mistake, he began shoving dog toys behind pillows and under the couch. 

“I’m sure your funeral is going to be lovely,” Maria assured him. “I’m going to go meet them downstairs. Also you might want to hide the dog bowls.”

“Wait can you sta-” He started to say, but Maria was out the door before he could finish his sentence. 

Taking her advice, he walked over to where the bowls sat in the kitchen, and tossed them both into the nearest cabinet. He caught a glimpse of his own reflection in the mirror above the sink, and for the first time, he noticed how disheveled he looked. His light grey shirt was covered in black dog hair (that he hoped Alex wouldn’t notice), and his hair was sticking out at different angles. Quickly, he took a hair tie off his wrist, and pulled his curls back into a messy ponytail. Once he finished, his eyes immediately began scanning the apartment again for any sign of dog. 

He hadn’t even processed everything, before the front door swung open behind him. It was followed by the sound of bags thudding as they hit the floor, and then footsteps as someone ran in his direction. Just as John turned around, Alex was jumping on him, wrapping his legs around his waist. John staggered backwards, and placed one hand on the counter behind him to steady himself, and his other arm remained tightly around Alex. Alex. Alex was back, he was here. Days had felt like years to him, slowly creeping by until the only thing there was to look forward to was his return. It sounded hyperbolic; however, it was anything but. The whole ordeal had made him realize that he never wanted to be alone again.

Alex cupped John’s face gently in his hands, and proceeded to smother every inch of it in kisses, as if he was trying to give every single freckle equal attention. “I missed you so fucking much,” Alex said breathlessly between kisses. John laughed, and as he did he and Alex bumped foreheads, which made Alex laugh as well.

“Ahem!” Eliza exclaimed, and Alex begrudgingly disentangled himself from John. John realized that Eliza and Maria had come upstairs with Alex, and he felt the heat rising to his cheeks. 

“Elizabeth Schuyler, if you deny me kisses from my boyfriend after what you put me through these past few days I swear to God,” Alex seethed, not sounding like he was joking.

“You made Alex miserable? I don’t think I’ve ever loved you more,” Maria sang, and kissed her girlfriend on the cheek.

“He’s overreacting,” Eliza promised.

“I am not,” Alex demanded, actually stomping his foot to prove his point. If this was a cartoon his face would be as red as a tomato and there would be steam blowing out of his ears. In an attempt to calm him down, John wrapped an arm around Alex’s waist and pulled him so close that his nose was in his hair. Alex let out a long breath, before he went back on his rampage. 

“First, it was bad enough that Peggy made me leave my laptop,” He began. “But then the entire ride there Angelica insisted on playing only Broadway music.” 

“You hate musicals,” John chuckled. He had tried to get Alex to go to a show with him countless times, but to no avail. Apparently they were _“insignificant wastes of time; and, why was he going to pay a fortune to watch people dance and sing their problems away when High School Musical was on Netflix.”_

“Exactly! It was non-stop Wicked, Les Miserables, and…” He shuddered, “The Phantom of the Opera.”

“Did it really hurt to be exposed to a little culture?” Eliza asked him.

“I’m not finished,” Alex silenced her. “When we got there, they only let me use my cell phone to call you one time each night. Also, Mr. Schuyler had a whole room of books they wouldn’t let me go near. Finally, and this is the part that kills me…there was no coffee.”

That last part reminded him of the coffee he had waiting for Alex on the kitchen table. He excused himself, while Eliza and Alex continued to bicker, Maria looked on amused. The cup still felt warm when he touched it, which was a miracle in itself. He brought it over to Alex who stopped mid-sentence at the sight of it.

“Is that Starbucks?” Alex questioned, his brow furrowed. 

“Yes,” John replied, and Alex took the cup from him hesitantly. “Vanilla latte. Your favorite.”

“What did you do?” Alex inquired, and John felt like someone was pushing down on his chest every time he tried to breathe. 

“I just thought I’d get you some caffeine for when you got home,” John said trying to sound hurt. 

“You hate Starbucks,” Alex said slowly.

“Only a small percentage of their products are Fair Trade,” John raged, he couldn’t help himself. He had always been passionate about human rights. While the coffee chain was Alex’s favorite, he felt guilty just using the place to go to the bathroom. 

“You only get me Starbucks when you did something wrong,” Alex explained, and took a small sip of his coffee. “The last times you got me coffee from there was when you got new curtains. Oh God you didn’t get new curtains, did you? I was just getting used to the new ones.”

Out of the corner of his eye, John saw Maria whisper something into Eliza’s ear, and he watched Eliza’s eyes go wide. “Babe, maybe you should sit down,” John suggested. 

“I don’t want to sit down,” Alex’s eyes were shifting side to side nervously, and John knew there had to be a better way to deliver this news but he couldn’t think of one. 

“Okay well,” John looked down and took Alex’s hands in his, as a way to comfort both of them. He rubbed slow circles on his knuckles, and thought about kissing them but decided against it. “When you were gone I missed you so much. I know it was only a few days, but I was just so lonely-”

“John did you cheat on me?” Alex interrupted him, and he honestly looked terrified. In the corner of the room Maria laughed, but Eliza cut her off by lightly elbowing her in the ribs. 

“This seems private,” Eliza said and grabbed Maria’s arm and started pulling her away. “So we’re just going to go.” Maria looked like she was going to protest, but Eliza was already leading her through the door.

“Eliza that’s a closet!” John called after them. 

“I know!” She replied and closed the door behind her and Maria. 

At some point Alex had taken his hands back from John, and was now standing there with his arms crossed across his chest. “Did you cheat on me?” He asked again.

“No!” This time John replied quickly. No matter what happened, John didn’t think he could ever cheat on Alex. There was a bond between the two of them that he wouldn’t break for anything in the world. Never in his life had he loved someone as fiercely as he loved Alex. 

“Man you can’t phrase things like that,” Alex said as he jumped up on the counter, suddenly a lot calmer. He was sitting cross legged on the marble countertops, now being more liberal with sips he took from his latte. The way that Alex’s demeanor could change in a second would never cease to amaze him. One minute he was quiet and anxious, the next he was overexcited and shooting off at the mouth. 

“I still don’t know exactly how to tell you about what I did,” John continued. Last night it had been all he thought about, with the dog sound asleep at the end of the bed. There was no scenario that ended up with Alex being thrilled about the dog, but there was where he accepted the dog. Now Alex was looking at him expectantly, and he knew that Laf and Herc would be back at any second. “While you were gone I kind of… maybe... got a dog.”

For a moment, Alex was silent, most likely letting the news sink in. This was one of those times where it was difficult to tell what Alex was thinking. His poker face hid the wheels turning in his head, and it made every second of anticipation agonizing. 

 

“So let me make sure I understand this,” Alex clasped his hands together and brought them to his face. “I leave for a couple days and you decide get a dog.”

“Well technically he’s a puppy. He’s a mini schnauzer, and the cutest thing you’ll ever see,” John explained, and Alex frowned. “Next to you, of course.”

“Where is he?” Alex inquired and he began looking all around the room.

“Hercules and Lafayette are probably bringing him back from the park right now,” John replied. 

“John after college is over I’m going to law school, I’m not going to have time to take care of a dog,” Alex’s voice trailed off and he looked away, he seemed more apologetic than upset. Lately they’d been having that conversation. About what was going to happen after they graduated. John will be completely done, having gotten his journalism degree. However Alex would be moving on to law school, which means he’d be busier than ever. Some nights, they’d be lucky to have even an hour together.

“Exactly. You’re still going to be busy with school, probably at the library studying, even more than you do now-”

“It is hard to study here,” Alex insisted, and then grinned. “You’re a distraction.”

“Well I’m going to miss you like crazy. I’ll need somebody to keep me company,” John explained. 

“John you can’t commit to anything. How are you going to take care of an actual living thing?” Alex asked.

“I’m committed to you,” John reminded him. 

“Yeah but I’m a fucking delight,” Alex said, then grabbed John by the arms, pulled him closer, and lowered his voice so it was barely above a whisper. “I’m just worried. Because this is really a big step. For us I mean. As a couple.”

“Alex it’s just a dog. We already live together,” John said and pressed his forehead against his. 

“I know, I know,” Alex said. “But usually when two people decide to do something like this they are planning on being together. For a very long period of time.”

John laughed at his phrasing. He realized that this was the most serious relationship either of them had ever been in, and damn, that was scary. “You don’t think we’re going to be together for _a long period of time_.”

“I hope--I mean of course…at least _I_ do,” Alex replied his face was red, and he seemed flustered. 

“Well then let’s do this,” John told him, and before Alex could say anything else John was kissing him. Since Alex was still sitting on the counter, he stood on his tiptoes to get a better angle. Alex didn’t hesitate to kiss him back, and he brought his hands down so they were wrapped tightly around John’s waist. 

In what couldn’t have been more than a minute later, the front door opened, and the two of them regrettably pulled apart.

“We’re back-” Hercules announced, and stopped in his tracks when he saw Alex, and then called to Lafayette, who was still in the hall: “Oh shit, Laf Alex is here, go go go.” 

“Guys he knows, it’s fine,” John told him.

“Alexander Hamilton, you can not take this dog away from him. I’m too attached,” Hercules declared, and it sounded more like a command than a suggestion. 

“Why is everyone acting like I was going to be a total douche about the whole dog thing?’ Alex asked.

“Because of the curtain incident. You didn’t talk to anyone for a week,” Lafayette said as he walked into the apartment. 

“Fair point,” Alex admitted.

Lafayette smirked, obviously proud of himself. “So do you want to meet the dog or not?” It was then, that both Alex and John noticed the bundle of black fur pressed close Laf’s chest. Alex nodded in response, and Laf sat him on the ground. The dog bounded towards Alex, tail wagging back and forth rapidly, and his tongue was hanging out of his mouth since he was exhausted from his walk. When he reached Alex, he started pawing at his lower leg, and Alex looked at John expectantly. 

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Well you could try picking him up,” John suggested. Alex proceeded to lift the dog up, but instead of bringing him close to him, Alex held him away from him, so he and the dog were face to face, and the dogs legs were dangling in the air. “You don’t have to hold him like he’s a piece of garbage you just found on the street.” Alex blushed and he attempted to cover it up by bringing the dog closer to him and burying his face in his fur. 

“I know,” Alex said. 

“Wasn’t Maria just here?” Lafayette asked. Oh shit, he’d completely forgotten that Eliza and Maria were still in their coat closet. 

“Um she’s in the closet,” John said.

Laf raised an eyebrow, “Look I’ve known Maria for awhile now, and the girl is anything but in the closet.”

“No,” John said and started walking towards the closet. “She is _literally_ in our closet.” He swung the door open and Maria and Eliza came tumbling out. One of them had obviously been leaning against the door, and since they were tangled together, lips once locked, they fell straight to the floor.

“Excuse me, you could have knocked, that was very rude,” Maria said, standing up, and offering Eliza her hand so she could pull her up.

“We weren’t eavesdropping,” Eliza swore as she accepted Maria’s hand and used it to help her stand up.

“Yeah we were just doing other things,” Maria said and winked playfully at Eliza.

“Well from now on, how about you do _other things,_ somewhere else,” Alex told them from the kitchen, where he was still sitting with the dog. 

“Aw it’s Turtle…let me see him, Alex,” Maria cooed and started to walk towards him.

“Maria, this is a dog,” Alex said slowly.

“John named him Turtle smart ass,” Maria said matter of factly, and took Turtle from him and went back to her girlfriend.

“John why would you name him Turtle?” Alex asked, and the tone of his voice told John that he was not a fan. 

“I like turtles,” John shrugged, unapologetically.

“You should have gotten a turtle then.”

“I can’t cuddle with a turtle,” John whined.

“Just cuddle with me,” Alex hopped off the counter and went over to and gave him a side hug, nuzzling his head against his shoulder. 

“Are you saying you don’t want to keep the dog?” John sounded disappointed. 

“He isn’t sleeping in our bed,” Alex told him. “And I want my curtains back.”

“Deal!” John exclaimed, and planted a loud and quick kiss on Alex’s lips.

A few feet away, Maria and Eliza were gushing over the puppy. Maria had one arm wrapped around Eliza, with Eliza’s resting in the crook of her neck. 

“Eliza we should get one of these,” Maria said.

“Babe we don’t even live together,” Eliza explained. “Plus I’m more of a cat person.”

“I think we can fix one of those things,” Maria whispered, and the two shared identical smiles as they stared at each other. 

People hung around for about another hour, until Alex kicked them all out, proclaiming that he needed time alone with his boyfriend. Yet after everyone left they realized they weren’t by themselves anymore. They had Turtle. Turtle, who was sitting by the front door, acting like he needed another walk even though he had just had one. Turtle, who when they got back, found one of Alex’s shirts from his suitcase and tore it to shreds. 

Turtle, who was going to make sure neither of them was ever alone again. Even when the other wasn’t there.

♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥.·:*:·.♥.·:*¨¨*:·.♥

 

 _”We fucking did it!”_ Alex shouted, bursting through the door of his apartment with Eliza giggling on his back. At their feet, Turtle was yapping excitedly due to the large amount of people coming into such a small space. Alex had to continuously side step the small schnauzer so he didn’t trip over him. 

“Alex I swear to God if you drop my girlfriend, I will kill you,” Maria shouted. She was standing by the doorway, watching in horror, as Alex ran around the living room with Eliza in tow. The serious edge to her voice was enough to scare Alex into putting Eliza down gently.

Alex couldn’t help but smile when he looked at Eliza, his best friend. She was wearing a lacy pastel blue dress, and her dark hair was pulled back into a french braid. Watching Eliza was like watching a shooting star grace the night sky, you couldn’t help but stare. Maria was the same way, a burning star. Just waiting to crash into Earth and disintegrate everything in her path. Her dress was short and bright red, with lipstick to match. On anyone else it would have seemed obnoxious, but with her it was a statement. There was definitely nobody like Maria Reynolds. 

“We did it Betsey,” Alex said, and Eliza smiled softly at him.

“I’m so happy Alex,” She whispered, and Alex wrapped her up in a bear hug. As long as Eliza Schuyler was happy, the world was ok. 

“Raise a glass to freedom!” Lafayette and Herc shouted from across the room, raising their graduation diplomas above their heads like glasses.

“Unless you’re going to law school,” Alex chimed in.

“Yeah, or med school,” Maria added.

“Or you have two more fucking years til you graduate,” Peggy moaned, practically marching over to the kitchen. “Y’all were my only friends and I refuse to branch outside of this group.”

“Peggy we’ll still hang out, it will be fine. We aren’t just going to forget about you,” Hercules reminded her. He had picked up Turtle, and was stroking his fur.

“Where do y’all keep your alcohol?” Peggy asked, rummaging through their cabinets.

“Oh hell no, you are a minor young lady,” Angelica said, going into older sister mode, and rushing over to Peggy, and dragging her away from the liquor.

“Oh please I’m twenty years old, and my name is Margarita, do you really think I haven’t drank," Peggy sighed.

“As long as we’re around you won’t,” Eliza said, walking over and hooking an arm through her sister’s. 

“I hate you both, I shouldn’t have even come to your graduation ceremony Eliza,” Peggy pouted. Angelica had already graduated college, and Peggy was two years away, but they had both come to support their sister. Alex wondered what that was like, having family in the audience to shout your name. The more he thought about it he didn’t care. John had screamed his name loud enough for a dozen people, and Alex had done the same for him. When he saw John go up there and accept his diploma, he started bawling, and found himself extremely grateful that ‘Hamilton’ came before ‘Laurens’ in the alphabet

“Don’t worry Pegs, John is bringing us coffee,” Alex assured her, “and that’s better than any alcohol.”

“Hamilton, what lies are you spreading to these children?” A smooth voice said. Alex recognized the voice, but he felt like he hadn’t heard it in so long. Sure they texted, and had the occasional Facetime, but it wasn’t the same as hearing someone speak in the same room as you.

“Aaron Burr, sir!” Alex exclaimed, staring at the man who was standing in their doorway, arm wrapped around the waist of a woman he had met on a couple of occasions, with short dreadlocks and eyes so deep brown that you could melt in them.

“What have I said about calling me sir, when I’m only a year older than you,” Burr complained, rolling his eyes, and stopping to glance at Theodosia, who giggled.

“It rhymes and it’s fun to say,” Alex shrugged, and ran over to Burr. “You got my text. How’s law school?”

“Kicking my ass,” Aaron rubbed the back of his head. “But I put the studying aside so I could come see the old gang.” He looked around the room, giving everyone smile and a nod but his gaze stopped on Maria, not quite able to recognize her. 

Eliza seemed to notice that he was struggling to recall who she was. “This is Maria. My girlfriend,” Eliza introduced them. “And Maria this is Aaron. Him and Alex are...well I honestly don’t know if they are besties or enemies.” 

“So you’re…” Aaron’s voice trailed off, he was obviously trying to not offend Eliza by mislabelling her.

“Bisexual,” Eliza finished for him. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Well I mean if I had a problem with you being bisexual, than I’d have to have a problem with my bisexual wife,” Aaron turned to Theo and gave her a peck on the lips. “Which I definitely don’t.”

“Aw you two are, how you say, _relationship goals,_ ” Lafayette cooed from the kitchen, where he was raiding the fridge to make snacks for their little gathering. Everyone was there. Even Thomas, who was sulking in the corner, since James had gone with John to get the coffee. He looked like a lost puppy without his better half. The two of them had always evened each other out. Thomas’ extroverted personality was eased by James’ introverted one, and Thomas helped James come out of his shell. Alex could tell that at the moment, Thomas didn’t know where his place was. 

In a moment of pity, Alex walked over to him and leaned against the wall. For a moment, they both just surveyed the people gathered within the tiny apartment. Peggy was hanging on to Theo’s every word as she recounted some story about working at Ralph Lauren. Angelica was attempting to wrestle Turtle from Herc’s arm. Maria and Burr had found something to talk about, but Maria seemed to get bored, and walked off in the middle of Burr talking, leaving Burr more than a little confused. Eliza was bugging Laf, trying to get him to let her eat some of the brownie batter, and Laf proceeded to shoo her away with a towel.

“So I never asked you what your plans were,” Alex said to Thomas, who seemed a tad bit surprised that he was actually starting a conversation. “Now that college is over I mean.”

“Honestly I don’t know. I’ve got my foreign relations degree,” Thomas shrugged. “But I don’t know what to do next. Where exactly do I go from here?”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Alex promised him. “You’re nothing if not resilient.”

“Was that a compliment, Hamilton?” Thomas grinned at him smugly.

“Possibly,” Alex admitted with a shrug. Ever since that double date a couple months ago, Alex had found that Thomas was much more tolerable. He might even go as far to say that the two had become _acquaintances._

“What about you? What does the future hold?” Thomas asked. 

Alex raised an eyebrow, “I’m going to law school. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this to everyone I’ve ever talked to about a million times.”

“I’m not talking about college and jobs, I’m talking about John,” Thomas corrected him. He must have noticed the bemused look on Alex’s face, because he continued. “What’s the big picture for you two?”

Truthfully, Alex hadn’t thought that far ahead. He had assumed that things would continue as they had always been. Then Alex thought back to the time when they got Turtle, and John had spoken about how he feared he’d be lonely once Alex became overwhelmed with schoolwork, and John had none of his own to distract him. What if one day, John decided it was too much, and he just left. John had become a fixed point in his life, if he suddenly wasn't there, Alex was scared he might lose himself. 

"I don't know," Alex said. "I guess we'll just figure it out as we go."

"You always have a plan," Thomas reminded him. It was true. Everything he'd ever done, had been strategically plotted out. Except for John. John came into his life like a hurricane, and destroyed everything he thought he knew about life and love. 

"Thomas, _ami!_ " Lafayette scolded. "I can hear you being depressing and you better cut it out right now." He was waving a whisk at him threateningly and Thomas threw his hands up in the air. 

"Aaron, I have decided that I'm stealing your wife," Peggy announced, wrapping an arm around Theo's shoulders. "We're going to run away together, and live in Vermont." 

"Okay Peggy, as long as you're cool with raising the baby," Burr said. Peggy's jaw dropped and her eyes went wide, and she looked back and forth between Theo and Aaron. 

"You mean...you two..." Peggy couldn't quite get the words out. 

"We're having a baby," Theo said, and Aaron was looking at her, with a smile that stretched across his entire face. Herc dropped the dog, and ran over to Theo, and lifted her up in a big hug, spinning her around as he did so. Angelica walked over to Burr, and gave him a high five, while Eliza and Maria both calmly gave their congratulations. 

"If my hands weren't covered in brownie mix, I'd be giving you both the biggest hugs right now," Lafayette assured him.

"Aw thanks Laf," Theo said and blew him a kiss, which Lafayette pretended to catch and place it on his cheek. 

"So you're saying that there is going to be a mini Aaron Burr running around," Alex asked. "God please let it take after it's mother."

"Very funny," Aaron retorted.

The sound of claws scrabbling against the hardwood floor alerted them to the door opening. As soon as John stepped through the door, Turtle was jumping on him, his tail wagging impossibly fast. Usually, John couldn't wait to greet his dog. In fact, John would rarely want to stay out too late because he'd miss him. He looked paler than usual, his hands were trembling at his side. James was standing next to him too, and Alex couldn't tell if he was agitated or nervous. All of their friends seemed to notice too, because they were all staring directly at him. Lafayette even came out of the kitchen, abandoning his baking. 

Angelica spoke first, "What the hell Laurens? Where's the coffee?" John didn't say anything, and Alex realized his boyfriend was staring directly at him. Alex shuffled over to him, unsure at first. He reached up and stroked John's cheek with the back of his hands, and he watched as John closed his eyes, relishing the touch. 

"What's wrong, angelito?" Alex asked softly, his voice full of concern. 

"Just for the record, I tried to stop him," James said, before crossing the room to Thomas, who greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. 

Nobody seemed to know what was going on, except for Maria. Her eyes went wide, and her mouth formed a knowing smile. She grabbed Eliza's arm and pulled her over to whisper something in Eliza's ear. Eliza turned back to her, mouth gaping open. Over the past year, Maria and John had become the best of friends. They'd bonded over growing up in South Carolina. They'd stay up late at night Facetiming, and they were the kind of people who would text each other inside jokes when they were in the same room. Maria looked at him and cocked an eyebrow, to which John replied by nodding. She grinned at him, and gave him a thumbs up. 

"Okay what's going on?" Alex asked, and John turned to him like he was finally going to speak. 

John reached up for Alex's hand, which was still on his cheeks. He clutched it and brought it to his chest, so it was hovering over John's heart. 

"Alex, I've been thinking about this for a long time," John started. "I remember there was this one night, I went to get coffee for you, because our coffee machine had broke. I borrowed your coat, and you had a picture of us in your pocket. That's when I knew I wanted you in my life forever. One way or another, I wanted you there."

Suddenly, Alex became very aware of what was happening. He noticed how there seemed to be a bulge in John's jacket pocket, the fact that Maria was covering both Eliza and Angelica's mouth to keep them from screaming, and Aaron and Theo were staring at each other lovingly, like they'd been there before. 

"There is a jewelry store by the coffee shop, but of course you know that, you go there everyday. I don't know how many times I've walked past that store, and watched couple after couple go in, and every time I would wonder, if that would ever be us. Now I know that it is going to be. Because I don't want to spend my life loving anyone but you. It has always been you. Since the moment I saw you. I love you so damn much. I swear I had more to say, but I just can't--" His voice broke off, and tears began to roll down his cheek, his lip was quivering, and it looked like he couldn't bring himself to speak. Alex stepped took small step forward and threw both arms around John, pulling him into his embrace and kissing his temple. 

"It's ok," Alex whispered into his hair, and he felt John nuzzle his head against the crook of his neck.

 _"¿Te casarías conmigo?"_ He whispered against him. 

_"Si,"_ Alex replied, he didn't even have to think about it. John was his everything. If he could, he would spend every minute trying to make him happy. John Laurens was enough. He pulled away from John, but only so he could grab his face in both his hands, and pull him into a kiss. His hands were in John's curls, and he felt like that kiss was the start of a new journey. John was still trembling against him, and the kiss was messy because they were both crying. They had a family now, each other, and they accepted and loved each other.

Alex broke the kiss first, and reached up to wipe the tears from John's eyes, and John did the same to him. 

"Let's get married now," Alex insisted, pressing their foreheads together. "Everyone is here, let's just go to Vegas or something."

"No!" Lafayette practically screeched. "You can't! I mean, I have so many ideas!"

"As much as I would love to get married to you now, I think my mother would want to come," John said. 

"Your mom?" Alex questioned. "You two are talking?"

John just nodded. He was smiling, and Alex didn't think he'd ever seen him so happy. Eliza wedged herself between Alex and John, putting an arm around both of them, then kissing both of their cheeks. Her pink lipstick left a mark on John's cheek, but he didn't seem to care. "I am so excited for you guys. Maria came and joined them, giving John a hug.

"Next time, give me a little more warning," She teased, and punched his arm playfully. 

"It all just kind of happened," John admitted. 

"Wait you mean this wasn't planned," Alex turned to John, who looked at him and blushed. 

"We were going to get coffee, than all the sudden Laurens is dragging me into this damn jewelry store. Then he went up to the clerk, pointed at a ring, and said 'get me that one'" James huffed from the kitchen. Thomas was sitting on the corner, and James was standing between his legs. 

"Oh shit the ring," John smacked his forehead, and Alex laughed as he quickly reached into his pocket for the ring. He took out a small blue box, and opened it up to reveal a simple silver wedding band. Then he grabbed Alex's hand and slipped the ring on his finger. "I'm not sure if it'll fit or not."

"It's a little tight. But we can fix that tomorrow when I go buy you an engagement ring," Alex said with a sly grin. 

The rest of the night was spent in celebration. They ordered pizza, drank beer and reminisced. Everyone took turns telling stories of how they met each other, how they became friends, and how they fell in love. Alex sat on John's lap, arms wrapped around him, and kissing him every two minutes. 

"I don't know why everyone is so happy," Peggy had said towards the end of the night. "They're pretty much married already." 

"You're just cranky because you don't get alcohol," Angelica said and shoved her with her foot.

By the end of the night, everyone was either to drunk to go home, or they just didn't want to. So at midnight, Alex and John were watching their sleeping friends from the couch. Aaron and Theo were sharing an arm chair, with Theo drooling a bit on his chest. Eliza and Maria by the window, the moonlight illuminating their sleeping figures as they clung to each other. Laf had refused to sleep on the floor, and was sleeping in John and Alex's bedroom. Herc was sandwiched between Peggy and Angelica, and he was the only one among them who was snoring. Finally, Thomas and James were cuddled under a blanket, their hands intertwined, and a faint content smiled played on Thomas' lips. 

Both Alex and John were moments away from falling asleep themselves. John was lazily running his hand up and down Alex's arm. Alex kissed John's collar bone, and felt his fiance's breath catch in his throat. He kissed up his neck until he trapped his lips in a kiss, and John slowly kissed him back, cupping his face so he didn't lose him in the darkness. 

_"Me gustas mucho,"_ Alex said against his lips. He reached for John's hand, and for the first time, he felt his ring press against John's skin. It was something he could definitely get used to.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Special thanks to my beta and best friend @sheawrites (or @generalswan on tumblr). I love her so much and she was always so quick to edit this, I never had to wait long. Let know if you'd like to see this continued as a series! Also hit me up on tumblr @swansdashingrapscallion
> 
> (p.s if you would like this to be a series, what are your thoughts on Lafayette x Hercules or Layfayette X Adrienne?? Feedback would be appreciated!)


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